Alcatel together with Ten Ten Telecommunications has announced the return of to Malaysia of Alcatel mobile devices, including its One Touch series.

During the briefing, Ten Ten Telecommunications executive director Alan Bong showed the range of models - Alcatel One Touch Explore 997D, Alcatel One Touch Insight 993D and Alcatel Touch Tab T10 as well as the prototype models of the upcoming Alcatel One Touch series that will be launched in Malaysia this year.

"Malaysia's smartphones and tablets market has always been a focal point among the global players," said Bong. "That's why we are delighted to announce our partnership with ALCATEL as we are set to capture the market here. Alcatel and Ten Ten Telecommunications are laying gearing up the challenge with the announcement of a wide range of the newest technology and complete functionality of Alcatel One Touch mobile devices in Malaysia."

"The advantages and ubiquities of smartphones and tablets have indeed changed the consumers in embracing devices and business device strategies," he said. "The partnership is timely for us as we are confident that we could provide the mobile technology they need in making their lifestyle and business simple, and accessible."

Bong said Ten Ten Telecommunications was confident it could use its expertise in telecommunication, marketing and distribution to ensure an enhanced brand presence in a positive smartphones and tablets market.

He cited a Gartner study that showed sales of smartphones in the third quarter of 2012 showed a 46.91 percent increase in global sales over the same period of 2011 with 169.2 million units sold. "Coupled with the growth of tablets, the sales of both devices are expected to reach 8212 million that account for 70 percent of total devices sold in 2012. The sales momentum is set to continue in 2013 with 1.2 billion smartphones and tablets to be sold globally."

In addition, IDC has said that smartphones' market share was forecasted to exceed 50 percent by the year 2014. "The positive sentiment is further supported by the Nielsen study, which shows that the smartphone penetration rate in Malaysia was 27 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and 79 percent of people surveyed plan to buy a smartphone. Malaysia is also the biggest market for tablets in Southeast Asia, with the sales revenue for 2011 totalled at US$3,745 million."